B of A, the nation's third largest bank, will occupy space on two floors of the mixed-use building. The space was leased from Argent Ventures LLC. Julien J. Studley Inc. brokers Mitchell Steir, Michael Colacino, David Goldstein and John Mambrino represented Argent. The Bank was represented by John Ryan III of Jones Lang LaSalle. Details of the transaction were not released, but asking rents in the building are $49 per sf.

Stern's department store was the former anchor tenant of the building, but last year Argent revealed plans to redevelop the 363,000-sf asset for office use. Roughly 400 employees from the bank's global treasury services and global securities group--currently housed in Secaucus, NJ--will occupy roughly half the building's converted space.

The space, which is currently ready to be built out, is expected to be ready for occupancy by mid-2002. Currently, retail tenants occupy the first seven floors of the building and two basement levels. Floors eight through 11 are office space.